HRC Panel on the 10th anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights

Statement by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet

29 June 2021

I am delighted to join you in celebrating the 10^th anniversary of an important milestone.

For the past ten years, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have set out an authoritative, pragmatic and effective framework for realising positive contributions through preventing and mitigating risk to people.

But as the author of the Guiding Principles, Professor John Ruggie, has said himself, an authoritative global framework for action was only "the end of the beginning".

The challenge was to put it into practice.

This is exactly what we have been collectively striving towards over the past decade.

I am proud of the role my own Office has played.

We have been increasingly supporting the practical implementation of the Principles by companies and national governments.

Through our Accountability and Remedy Project, we have been working to enhance the effectiveness of remedial mechanisms so that victims can better assert their rights. Access to remedy is a key pillar of the Guiding Principles, and our project follows successive mandates from the HRC.

Our recent B-Tech project, is showing how useful the Guiding Principles can be in addressing the unique challenges of the digital space.

And we have also supported the UN Working Group in making the Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights into the largest global gathering on business and human rights.

As the Guiding Principles recognise, it should not be assumed that business invariably prefer, or benefit from, State inaction. To quote the Guiding Principles, States "should consider a smart mix of measures – national and international, mandatory and voluntary – to foster business respect for human rights."

Many countries have done just that over the past decade – I welcome the increasing number of national action plans being developed.

Particularly in Europe, efforts have focused on developing mandatory standards for human rights due diligence aligned with the Guiding Principles. I commend these steps as a key component of the "smart mix of measures" states should adopt to foster business respect for human rights.

Other international efforts are also being made in this regard, for instance through the creation of an intergovernmental working group to develop an international legally binding instrument on business and human rights.

I also welcome the action taken by many companies and business organizations to meet their responsibilities under the Guiding Principles, as well as to push forward the business and human rights agenda and support the Working Group's UNGPs 10+ project.

In addition, I pay tribute to the vital role played by civil society, trade unions and national human rights institutions in advocating for effective implementation of the Guiding Principles by both states and business.

Dear colleagues,

While much has been achieved over the past decade, it is clear that to realise the full promise of the Guiding Principles, much more remains to be done.

Many more governments and many more companies need to begin or step up their efforts.

Civil society organisations have long denounced the failure of many companies in different sectors to meet their responsibility to respect human rights. Stories exposing the abuse of workers, human rights defenders, and other communities continue to be all too common.

Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic have further exposed and exacerbated the inequalities and vulnerabilities that are endemic to many business models.

Human rights must always be respected. Companies must do better. And while recognising those who are doing the right thing, we must call out failures to do so.

Ten years on, the challenges and contexts in which the Guiding Principles must be applied are constantly evolving. That is particularly the case in the tech sector and with respect to climate change.

But the framework that the Guiding Principles have set out remains as valid as ever. As we strive to recover better from COVID-19, I trust the Principles will continue to guide us to the right direction.

Thank you.